airmcmonky
03-13-2009, 08:22 PM
So I recently got a couple teas from "Dragon Pearl Whole Teas" which I found at the local Ralphs grocery store. The company's website can be found here: http://dragonpearltea.com/
First off, this is one of the more expensive loose teas I've seen at the supermarket, costing about $15 for a 100g can. This particular tea is a pearl tea, so it's a bunch of tea leaves wrapped into little balls that unravel when you brew it. The can says you can steep each pot 2-3 times and I have tried steeping three times, where the flavor started to diminish slightly, so it appears to work. One thing though, I'm still not sure of the best way to store between steepings, so if anyone has insight on that, let me know. So now onto the review.
The first thing you notice when steeping this tea is how it unravels, and you can see that it has very large leaves in there. I kept the steep times at around two minutes to avoid the bitter, and by the time it's done, you get a very pale, soft green looking tea. It's very pretty. The smell is immediately noticeable, smelling almost floral or perfumy. The smell is very pleasant and is better than any jasmine tea I've had (though I've only had a couple others). I first tried it without any sugar to see what it was like and I soon realized that sweetening it would be a bad idea. The taste is very delicate and I think it really comes out the most when taking a sniff as you sip. The flavor really mimics the floral smell with just a little bit of green tea flavor that isn't bitter at all and perfectly accompanies the smell.
I would recommend this tea to anyone that enjoys lighter teas that don't like using a lot of sugar. This is one of the few teas that I enjoy without any type of sweetening at all. With the multiple steepings, I think it's well worth the price. I also have an oolong tea from this company that I hope to try very soon, but I think these would be great for the BBnB crew to try if they get the chance.
First off, this is one of the more expensive loose teas I've seen at the supermarket, costing about $15 for a 100g can. This particular tea is a pearl tea, so it's a bunch of tea leaves wrapped into little balls that unravel when you brew it. The can says you can steep each pot 2-3 times and I have tried steeping three times, where the flavor started to diminish slightly, so it appears to work. One thing though, I'm still not sure of the best way to store between steepings, so if anyone has insight on that, let me know. So now onto the review.
The first thing you notice when steeping this tea is how it unravels, and you can see that it has very large leaves in there. I kept the steep times at around two minutes to avoid the bitter, and by the time it's done, you get a very pale, soft green looking tea. It's very pretty. The smell is immediately noticeable, smelling almost floral or perfumy. The smell is very pleasant and is better than any jasmine tea I've had (though I've only had a couple others). I first tried it without any sugar to see what it was like and I soon realized that sweetening it would be a bad idea. The taste is very delicate and I think it really comes out the most when taking a sniff as you sip. The flavor really mimics the floral smell with just a little bit of green tea flavor that isn't bitter at all and perfectly accompanies the smell.
I would recommend this tea to anyone that enjoys lighter teas that don't like using a lot of sugar. This is one of the few teas that I enjoy without any type of sweetening at all. With the multiple steepings, I think it's well worth the price. I also have an oolong tea from this company that I hope to try very soon, but I think these would be great for the BBnB crew to try if they get the chance.